This invention relates to a device to insert an anchoring system in the seabed. More particularly, the device of this invention vents pressurized gas into the material of the seabed to assist insertion of an anchoring system therein.
Anchoring systems, such as anchors or stanchions often need to be securely emplaced in the seabed to secure lines, sensors, etc. Usually, divers have had to hammer the anchoring systems into the sand, sediment, and/or particulate matter making up the material of the seabed.
This emplacement method often creates fatiguing levels of exertion in the divers. For some tasks this method is excessively noisy and can disturb the bottom to such an extent as to impair visibility that could be dangerous for the divers and affect successful completion of the mission. In addition, the weight and bulk of mechanical hammering equipment may prevent effective use of this method where logistic support is limited.
Installers of lawn sprinkling systems have used high pressure water hoses to blast, or wash away soil of the ground to create a hole extending, for example, under sidewalks. Then, a water pipe was pushed through the hole so that water may be supplied to lawn sprinklers on the downstream side of the sidewalk. U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,739 discloses an underwater mining apparatus having a dual passage pipe that uses pumped water for gathering mineral modules and aggregate from the floor of the ocean and transmitting them to a supporting surface vessel.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a portable, diver operated device that aerates material of the seabed to permit quick and nearly effortless insertion of an anchoring system in it.
The present invention provides a hand-held tool for a diver including a hollow tube to vent pressurized gas from an interconnected source through the tube to aerate material of a seabed and to insert an anchoring system disposed adjacently to the tube in the aerated material. The invention also includes a method of inserting the anchoring system in the aerated material using the hand-held tool.
An object of the invention is to provide a method of and device for inserting an anchoring system in the material of the seabed.
Another object is to provide a device portable by a man to quickly and effortlessly insert an anchoring system in sand, sediment, and/or other organic/inorganic particulate matter of the material of the seabed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of and device for insertion of an anchoring system that may be used by a diver while underwater to aerate the material of the seabed with gas to allow insertion of the system therein.
Another object is to provide a device portable by a man that uses pressurized gas to insert an anchor or stanchion in the material of the seabed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a one-man device to insert an anchoring system in the material of the seabed by percolating pressurized gas, such as air, in the seabed adjacent to the anchor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of and device for allowing one man to effortlessly insert an anchor deep in the material of the seabed by aerating the material with pressurized air.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device held adjacent to an anchoring system with its tip placed against material of the seabed to aerate the material so that light pressure on the device and anchor inserts them to the required depth therein.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of and device for inserting an anchoring system in the material of the seabed by a diver that aerates the material with gas from a portable cylinder, diver""s air tank, or hose from a remote source, such as a compressor.
Another object is to provide a method of and a one-man tool for inserting anchoring systems underwater using quick-change fittings to expedite coupling of pressurized gas into the material of the seabed.
These and other objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the ensuing specification when taken in conjunction with the appended claims.